Time to find design for Spitfire memorial

11:17am Monday 18th February 2008

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By Peter Law »

DESIGNERS are to be approached to submit their vision for Southampton's answer to the Angel of the North.

A £70,000 consultation process to create a monument to the Spitfire is to be launched this week.

Public reaction to ambitious plans for a 100ft Spitfire standing on its tail have been mixed since the Daily Echo launched its campaign to finally honour the great Second World War fighter plane.

Artists and engineering consultants will now be asked to create an iconic image that will become the city's most recognisable landmark.

Councillor John Hannides, pictured right, who has led the campaign, said that the Spitfire Tribute Foundation's vision for the giant memorial was open for interpretation by the experts.

"This is the most critical part of taking this enormous project forward,"

he said. "Two or three firms will be approached within the next few weeks to conduct a feasibility study into the costs, material and final design.

"We have got something in mind but we will allow the design company to interpret the design brief that we have got. However, the impact will remain the same as when we started."

Funding for the feasibility study has come from Southampton City Council, while the estimated £1m cost of construction would come from fundraising.

Cllr Hannides said that hewould write to the embassies of all the Commonwealth nations and approach any other country that has an affinity to the Spitfire, including the USA, Poland and the Czech Republic.

He said: "This is a unique project that will never be repeated.

People across generations and across the globe should feel that this is something that deserves full backing."

While the possible locations are being kept secret for now, planners say that the monumental Spitfire sculpture would greet millions of visitors to the city each year.

The development comes as artists across the country are being invited by Eurostar to submit designs for a £2m landmark near Ebbsfleet railway station in Kent. It is hoped that the Ebbsfleet project, which could be finished by 2009, would rival the Angel of the North and welcome visitors arriving from Europe.

The artists have been given a brief to create a sculpture measuring 50 metres (165 ft) thatwill be visible from the road, rail and air.